Oversight Committee Republicans Launch Investigation Examining SEC’s Independence |
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 00:00 |
Did External Political Pressure Influence the Timing of the Suit Against Goldman? WASHINGTON. D.C. – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA), sent a letter today to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro requesting that the SEC provide the Committee with documents and information “regarding any sort of prearrangement, coordination, direction from, or advance notice provided by the Commission to the Administration or Congressional Democrats regarding last Friday’s filing against Goldman.”
“The events of the past five days have fueled legitimate suspicion on the part of the American people that the Commission has attempted to assist the White House, the Democratic Party, and Congressional Democrats by timing the suit to coincide with the Senate’s consideration of financial regulatory legislation, or by providing Democrats with advance notice,” Issa wrote. “The American people have a right to know whether the Commission, or any of its officers or employees, may have violated federal law by using the resources of an independent regulatory agency to promote a partisan political agenda.”
Issa specifically asked the SEC to provide the following records and information by Tuesday, April 27, 2010:
“As supported by the Commission’s canons of ethics and as frequently reiterated by you and other Commissioners, the unqualified independence of financial regulators is crucial to the health of the financial system and the U.S. economy,” Issa wrote. “For this reason, doubts about whether the Commission has scrupulously guarded its independence from the Administration’s partisan political agenda and concerted efforts to manipulate Congressional action are very serious, and should be addressed with full transparency.
Issa concluded, “If, however, the appearance of coordination between the Commission’s Goldman suit and Democrats’ partisan activities is merely the result of coincidence and extraordinarily fast political reflexes, disclosure should offer the commission the best opportunity to address outstanding concerns.”
The letter was signed by Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jim Jordan (R-OH), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Dan Burton (R-IN), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), Aaron Schock (R-IL), Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-LA). Click here to read the letter to the SEC
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